Algor
/ˈæl.ɡɔːr/noun
A feeling or condition of coldness or chill, especially the cooling of a body after death.
Did you know?In forensic medicine, “algor mortis” describes the postmortem cooling of a corpse and is used alongside rigor mortis and livor mortis to help estimate time of death.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₂elǵ-
“To be cold or chill; a proposed ancestral root associated with coldness”
Classical Latin
Latin
algēre
“To be cold, feel cold, or suffer from cold”
Classical Latin
Latin
algor
“Cold, chill, or the sensation of cold”
Late Latin
Latin
algor mortis
“The coldness of death or cooling of a dead body”
17th Century
English
algor
“A medical term for coldness or chill”
Modern English
English
algor
“Coldness, especially postmortem cooling”